Great Fire of London, (September 2–5, 1666), the worst fire in London’s history. It destroyed a large part of the City of London, including most of the civic buildings, old St. Paul’s Cathedral, 87 parish churches, and about 13,000 houses.

The Great Fire of London, as depicted about 1675, seen from Blackfriars and looking toward Old St. …

On Sunday, September 2, 1666, the fire began accidentally in the house of the king’s baker in Pudding Lane near London Bridge. A violent east wind encouraged the flames, which raged during the whole of Monday and part of Tuesday. On Wednesday the fire slackened; on Thursday it was extinguished, but on the evening of that day the flames again burst forth at The Temple. Some houses were at once blown up by gunpowder, and thus the fire was finally mastered. Many interesting details of the fire are given in Samuel Pepys’s Diary. The river swarmed with vessels filled with persons carrying away as many of their goods as they were able to save. Some fled to the hills of Hampstead and Highgate, but Moorfields was the chief refuge of the houseless Londoners.

London residents escaping from the Great Fire of London in 1666 by way of the Thames.

Within a few days of the fire, three different plans were presented to the king for the rebuilding of the city, by Christopher Wren, John Evelyn, and Robert Hooke; but none of these plans to regularize the streets was adopted, and in consequence the old lines were in almost every case retained. Nevertheless, Wren’s great work was the erection of St. Paul’s Cathedral and the many churches ranged around it as satellites. Hooke’s task was the humbler one of arranging as city surveyor for the building of the houses.

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The worst fire in the city of London’s history occurred in 1666. It is known as the Great Fire of London. In the early hours of the morning of Sunday, September 2, fire broke out in Thomas Farriner’s bakery in Pudding Lane. Pudding Lane was a narrow street of wooden houses crowded together, many leaning out toward each other. At the time, most London houses were built of timber, and after a long, dry summer they were particularly easy to burn. Fanned by a strong east wind, the fire spread rapidly.

The worst fire in London’s history, known as the Great Fire of London, occurred in 1666. Although very few people died, the fire destroyed a large part of the City of London, including most of the civic buildings, old St. Paul’s Cathedral, 87 parish churches, and about 13,000 houses. The Great Fire is commemorated by The Monument, a column erected in the 1670s near the source of the blaze.